Lottery tickets are well known and widely sold and typically comprise a sheet material of paper or card stock on which is printed lottery information and various indicia for the playing of one or more games. Many such games are instant win type games where the player can play the game or games by carrying out various functions. These include a first type of ticket which involves removing a scratch-off layer for scratch-off tickets. A second type of ticket involves opening pull tabs windows for what are known as break-open tickets. Such tickets are also known variously as pull-tabs, pickle cards, jar tickets, hard cards and charitable gaming tickets. Typically, these two distinct types of lottery tickets are targeted to different markets.
The break-open ticket is typically manufactured in a process which involves firstly printing using a printing press a full sheet which thus defines a set of the tickets in rows and columns which is laminated to a similar sheet of top sheet portions. The laminated sheets then must be cut in a mechanical cutting station into the individual ticket portions. The tickets thus formed are limited to the symbol combinations printed in the set. This leads generally to a reduced level of security for break-opens generally thus limiting the prize value which can be provided.
The present invention relates to both scratch-off and break-open tickets but is primarily concerned with scratch-off tickets where the substrate must also provide the necessary security characteristics such as opacity.
Scratch-off lottery tickets have up to date been printed on cardstock or foil laminated substrates for decades. Such substrates are typically relatively stiff and dimensionally stable to allow printing and to provide a finished product which remains generally flat when used by the player. This flat stiff structure enables the player to easily hold the ticket and hold the game area flat as the scratching process is applied.
Also the substrate used to date is opaque. It will be appreciated that the area containing the game data must be sufficiently opaque that it cannot be compromised by a strong light shone through the substrate and the game data. The degree of opacity to obtain this feature is typically assisted by printed layers of opaque material including a backing layer under the game data and the scratch-off material itself. Foil substrates are sufficiently opaque so that no additional layers are required although typically a white layer is applied beneath the game data to provide a higher contrast level between game indicia and the background. Card stock requires additional layers to provide the opacity required. However in all cases the substrate used has itself an initial high opacity level and other less opaque materials have thus been considered unsuitable.
Also the substrate must pass thought the printing process and allow the printing to be registered with a particular location on the substrate. Thus again foil substrates have a very high dimensional stability and hence are particularly desirable. Card stock has less dimensional stability and may stretch slightly but in a manner which can be managed in the printing process. Other less stable materials have thus been considered unsuitable.
As the substrate used to date therefore is either laminate stock including but not limited to foil laminates, transfer film laminates, etc. or card stock including various stock weights such as text weight and cover weight, aesthetic variation are limited to combinations of graphics, inks and coatings. In the continuing challenge to capture the attention of consumers in the cluttered retail environment, fast moving consumer packaged goods, including lottery tickets, rely on fresh new packaging options.